Olson collects career-high 18 rebounds in 64-49 win over Saints

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu January 7, 2016 Olson collects career-high 18 rebounds in 64-49 win over Saints MSUB Women’s Basketball on Facebook MSUB Women’s Basketball on ISSUU Post-game interviews with Janiel Olson and head coach Kevin Woodin Interactive Box Score

Janiel Olson collected a career-high 18 rebounds in the 64-49 conference win over Saint Martin’s.

Janiel Olson collects a career-high 18 rebounds in MSUB’s 64-49 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win over Saint Martin’s.

BILLINGS, Mont. - Janiel Olson recorded a career-high 18 rebounds and Alisha Breen matched her in points as the Yellowjackets won their Great Northwest Athletic Conference game against Saint Martin's 64-49 Thursday at Alterowitz Gymnasium.

Olson topped her previous-best from a game against Alaska two years ago as the senior made a dynamic statement off the glass. Defense was a big part of the night as MSUB won 24 points off of turnovers and finished with 11 steals. The Yellowjackets pulled in 17 offensive and 25 defensive rebounds to win the night 42-30 over SMU. Breen scored 18 points and sophomore Rylee Kane contributed 14 as the ‘Jackets finished the game shooting 25-62 from the field for 40.3 percent. MSU Billings was 6-17 from the 3-point arc and 8-13 from the free-throw line.

The Yellowjackets opened the contest with a 3-point shot from Kane and a layup from Marissa Van Atta as MSUB went on to lead by as many as 18 points in the victory.

In the third quarter Saint Martin’s closed the gap to two points, but the Saints never took the lead during the game as the MSUB defense worked hard to regain control. Van Atta was able to make two steals during the stretch to restart the offense as the Yellowjackets held SMU to 10 points in the final quarter.

With the win, MSU Billings moves to 8-5 overall and 4-1 in the GNAC. Saint Martin’s falls to 5-8 and an even 3-3 in league games.

“I really liked the way we played in the first half,” MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. “Our intensity was very good and defensively we were communicating well. This was a great team win for our entire women’s basketball program tonight.”

“Janiel’s rebounding played a pivotal role tonight for us,” Coach Woodin continued. “In addition, both Tiana and Vanessa hit some big shots for us when we really needed them. Marissa and Lexi worked extremely hard on guarding Stabler and I also felt Janiel defended Wiedeman very tough. They are a difficult tandem to guard as they can score in so many ways. Rylee played a nice floor game tonight, her decision making was good and she converted some critical free throws late in the game. Offensively, Alisha shot the ball well from the perimeter in the first half and then was effective inside in the second half.”

For SMU, Elin Johansson shot 7-10 from the field finishing with 18 points. After scoring 32 points last Tuesday against Seattle Pacific, Krista Stabler was held to 11 against MSUB as the senior guard shot 4-16 from the field and 1-4 from the 3-point arc. Medan Wiedeman led the team in rebounds with 10, and posted eight points in the win.

The Yellowjackets opened the game with an 18-8 lead before SMU closed out the quarter with four straight points.

SMU’s Shelbie Drey made a layup and Breen countered with a 3-pointer for 12-8. Lexi Prevost scored with a jump shot off a pass from Breen. Good defense on the SMU possession earned the ‘Jackets another chance and Vanessa Stavish made a basket just inside the 3-point arc. Tiana Hanson ended the run on a layup off a pass from Olson for the first double-digit lead at 18-8.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Kane and Breen created some distance between the teams as the ‘Jackets opened the second quarter with a 25-9 advantage. The Saints countered with three points from Johansson, but Hanson slid under the basket for a layup and Breen pushed the MSUB ahead 29-14 on her second 3-point bucket of the game. Van Atta ended the MSUB offensive charge with a smart stop and pop jump shot from the outside of the key.

Saint Martin’s collected a 7-0 point run to end the second quarter on to draw the deficit down to 11, 34-23 at the break.

“Give St. Martin’s a lot of credit, they really played well in the third quarter on both ends,” Woodin said. “I was pleased with how our team responded to their run and I thought we regrouped and played a very solid fourth quarter.”

The Saints continued their run with six more points to open the third quarter. With the MSUB offense at a stall, Van Atta was able to make two steals and MSUB was able to convert those into baskets to keep the Yellowjackets on the scoreboard.

Stabler drew the Saints to within two with a 3-pointer at the top of the arc. Stavish made three important plays for the ‘Jackets draining two shots and contributing a steal that led to a layup from Olson to push MSUB to a 44-38 advantage.

Breen stretched the lead back up to 10 as she fought for a layup and made the next three points for the Yellowjackets on another hard-fought shot under the rim and the extra point after the foul.

Monica Grimsrud started the fourth quarter charge with a huge 3-point shot for MSU Billings and Breen followed that up with a defensive stop to give the ‘Jackets some momentum. Kane followed through with a drive to the basket and layup.

Another drive by Kane resulted in a foul and two free-throws. After a missed shot from Breen, Hanson made an offensive grab and put-back for a 62-44 advantage. A free-throw from Breen and one from Cierra Lamey closed out the scoring for the ‘Jackets.

THE BUZZ: Olson bested her previous career-high of 17 rebounds in a game from 2013 against Alaska…with the 18 rebounds Olson now has 828 career rebounds at MSUB which moves her ahead of Alicia Cahill (814, 1996-99) for sole possession of No. 2 all-time at MSUB. UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets host Seattle Pacific on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m.

“We are looking forward to playing SPU on Saturday night,” Woodin said. “They have a great program and I know it will be a tough contest.”

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